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Vickers Machine Gun Emplacement
|prereq = None |production_struc = Infantry Section |production_xp = |primary_weapon = 1x Vickers Medium Machine Gun |secondary_weapon = |health = |armor = None }} The Vickers Machine Gun Emplacement or Vickers MG Emplacement is an anti-infantry Defensive Structure created by the British in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts. Built by Infantry Sections, it provides suppressive fire against approaching infantry, helping to protect key positions in the British defensive line against infantry infiltrations. Overview The Vickers Machine Gun Emplacement is a basic Defensive Structure built by British Infantry Sections. It is a preliminary defensive measure against approaching enemy infantry and provides a wide field-of-fire that can suppress and destroy infantry squads. The Infantry Section produces this structure for the cost of . The structure takes up , and is listed as a unit in the unit-selection interface. It is crewed by three men, though only one of them is operating the emplacement's main weapon: a Vickers Medium Machine Gun. This weapon has distinctly anti-infantry capabilities, firing a large volley of bullets that can easily suppress or pin-down enemy infantry and is accurate enough to kill them if they don't run away. It can also do some damage to light, unarmored vehicles. The wide field of fire for the Vickers MG Emplacement allows it to protect a relatively large area. This is important because the weapon has no ability to defend its own flanks, so it should be placed in a location where it would be impossible to reach its flanks without passing through its field of fire first. Vickers Machine Gun Emplacements are best when supported by artillery, especially 3" Mortar Emplacements. They also work well with 17 Pounder AT Guns. Weapons The Vickers Machine Gun Emplacement is armed only with a Vickers Medium Machine Gun, which it uses to suppress and destroy enemy infantry and light vehicles. Vickers Medium Machine Gun This Machine Gun is a powerful belt-fed anti-infantry weapon. It fires heavy-caliber bullets in very long bursts of 4–5 seconds. Each burst is capable of suppressing an enemy infantry unit, and a second burst will usually pin the unit down. Further fire will slowly pick off the pinned down enemy troops as they lie around hopelessly in its field of fire. The weapon is mounted at the front of the emplacement, and fires in a forward arc of 120 degrees, up to a range of 45 meters (10 meters beyond the emplacement's sight range). Unfortunately, the weapon cannot be rotated to face in another direction, limiting it to that 120 degrees forward angle. Vickers MGs can hurt light vehicles, though that can take a while. It would require the vehicle to be sitting in the MG's line of fire for a while. Tactics The Vickers Machine Gun Emplacement is the most basic defensive structure available to the British. Placement of these structures is usually the first step towards securing a point against fast enemy counter-attacks, especially in the early game. Given its fast construction time, it can be set up quickly to hold back enemy infantry coming to re-capture a point. Placement The Vickers MG Emplacement should be set-up so that its field of fire covers as much open space as possible, with as few obstacles that might obscure enemies from its fire. Also, it's advisable to set the field of fire so that infantry have no way to flank the emplacement without passing through it. Otherwise, they can simply go around and destroy the emplacement from its unarmed sides or rear. For some reason, the field of fire arc displayed in the Vickers' build preview is actually slightly counter-clockwise from what its arc will actually be once built. Bear this in mind when facing the Vickers to avoid leaving an exploitable gap in its field of fire. Support If you wish to use Vickers MG Emplacements, consider supporting them with 3" Mortar Emplacements. Once an infantry unit enters the MG's line of fire, it will quickly become suppressed and therefore a much easier target for the mortar to zero-in on. This also increases your ability against vehicles slightly, though again the Bofors 40mm Cannon can do this all by itself anyway... Naturally, the Vickers MG Emplacement has absolutely no defense against armored vehicles, and so should be accompanied by a 17 Pounder AT Gun if possible. However, on occasiong, you'll have situations where the MG emplacement is defending an approach that is unlikely to be visited by vehicles at all (for instance the end of an infantry-only bridge), in which case a 17 Pounder AT Gun is not required. If the Vickers Machine Gun Emplacement is damaged severely but not destroyed, its crew will be killed and it will become a neutral weapon. In that case, it can be captured by an enemy infantry squad. Fortunately, since the MG cannot be turned around, this may not benefit the enemy by much. Still, if the MG nest was positioned in a way that it can fend off any troops approaching it, this is a serious net loss to you. Obsolescence Eventually, the Vickers MG Emplacement can be replaced with a Bofors 40mm Cannon. This emplacement costs more Fuel and takes more time to build, but is quite powerful against infantry and packs much more of a punch against vehicles - not the mention its ability to swivel 360 degrees around to engage targets on all sides. It also takes up the same number of Population Cap points as the Vickers MG Emplacement. Gallery Trivia If a British Infantry Unit captures an abandoned Heavy Machine Gun, the squad will have the same quotes as the emplacement. Category:British Units Category:Defensive Structure Category:Active Defenses